RIGHTS >Just die already, policeman tells abused woman

An İzmir police officer told an abused woman who was later murdered by her husband despite receiving state protection that he hoped she would “die soon” so that she would stop seeking assistance, the woman's lawyer has claimed.

"You come here everyday. Die already and save us the trouble,” an officer allegedly told the woman, Ferdane Çöl, who was assigned police protection from her husband whom she was trying to divorce before he murdered her.

Çöl's lawyer is now working to file a lawsuit against the officers, who allegedly refused to take the threats against Çöl seriously. The officers, as well as their superiors, are accused of neglecting their duty and eventually causing Çöl’s death by negligence.

Çöl went to the police forces a number of times between Aug. 23 and Oct. 13, 2011, following threats and violent behavior by her husband. Çöl's lawyer also accused the prosecutors that handled Çöl's conflict with her husband, stating that they allowed the suspect to murder his wife by not ordering his arrest.

Işıkkent Police Department in İzmir, where the accused officers were on duty at the time, have not responded to the accusations and told members of the press that one of the officers in question was now on annual leave while the other had been transferred to a different post in eastern Turkey.